Canes Sink Like A Rock

Things were looking up for the Canes. The Jonster was back in the lineup to complete the Finnish trifecta. Staal had an extra few days of sitting on his butt to heal whatever it is that ails him. The team had finally played something resembling their game against Pittsburgh. New Jersey had played the night before and gotten manhandled by Atlanta. What could go wrong right? Oh if only we had known.

But in an effort to ward off the gloom and doom, we'll start with the high points. Let's see, there weren't many...Cam had a great night. Borderline Camtastic in fact. He turned himself inside out trying to keep his team in the game.
So Cam-we love you. Just remember that. But if you want to yell at your teammates a little, it's ok, I understand completely.

Albe-way to go kicking Clarkson's butt. And that pretty much sums up the high points. I told you there weren't many.

*****We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog for this important message. An Amber Alert has been issued for Eric Staal. He is 6'4" and rumored to be a NHL All Star. Please contact Paul Maurice with any information on his location. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.*****

Yeah that's right, E.Staal is in a "slump" and remained almost invisible tonight, finishing a -2 and rocking a miserable 35% success rate in the faceoff circle. Eric, please read what I'm about to write carefully-take a lesson from Joni and either heal or don't play. Simple as that. I know you love playing injured and all, but your iron man streak does you no good if you spend the whole game floating. There is no shame in sitting out a game (or five). But what there is shame in is being bad (and not accepting it) and you've been bad the past few games. I've turned your bobblehead around (and separated it from the others) in the hope that it will teach you a lesson. The dunce hat will remain perched upon your little noggin until you get your act together. Don't make me take your stick away.

To add insult to injury (wait-strike that, reverse it), our d-men kept dropping like flies tonight. A.Ward-heal quickly and don't lift anything heavy. Timmy-wear a visor from now on; we need you. But on the bright side, chicks dig scars. Nicky-from now on, keep your head up.

Now for a semi-regular feature:
Did Tripp Really Just Say That?!
Tripp always finds a way to share interesting (and usually awkward) tidbits about the players' personal lives, but he took that aspect of color commentary one step too far tonight when he tossed out a peppy little anecdote about how Cullen and Rosey spent a little bonding time in a hot tub. At a spa. I think I speak for all of Caniac Nation when I say ew. I'm not even going to touch the logistics of that little field trip, mainly because I have to sleep at some point tonight and just can't handle the nightmares.

I don't know what needs to be done to get this team winning on a semi-regular basis (although the PP might be a good place to start), but the coaches need to figure it out quickly. I know it's still early in the season, but the Canes are currently 2-4-1 and have yet to win against a playoff caliber team. We've missed the playoffs by just a few points in the past so this situation is feeling uncomfortably familiar. They have a three day break until taking on the Islanders in Long Island. There better be some serious work done in practice the next few days because this kind of game isn't going to cut it much longer.

As always, but with slightly less gusto than usual, LET'S GO CANES!